Pakistani Prosecutor in Bhutto Case Gunned Down

Police in Pakistan say the lead prosecutor investigating the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and the 2008 bombing attacks in Mumbai, India, has been shot dead in Islamabad.

Chaudry Zulfikar was shot multiple times Friday by attackers on a motorbike. His bodyguard was wounded and a passer-by was killed when his car hit her. Zulfikar's attackers fled.

Zulfikar was investigating the December 2007 killing of Ms. Bhutto, which took place in Rawalpindi just weeks after she returned to the country from self-imposed exile. No one has been convicted or sent to prison for her death. Police said he was headed to a hearing related to the Bhutto attack when he was killed.

Former miltary ruler Pervez Musharraf is accused in the Bhutto case.

Zulfikar was also investigating the Mumbai attacks, in which 166 people were killed. India blames the radical Pakistani Islamic group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the attacks.

Anti-terrorism authorities are probing claims that the then-president Musharraf failed to provide adequate security in 2007 to Ms. Bhutto, his political rival, who was gunned down at a political rally.

Mr. Musharraf has denied any involvement and he says the allegations against him are politically motivated.

A U.N. report in 2010 said any credible investigation of Ms. Bhutto's death should not rule out the possibility that members of Pakistan's military and security establishment were involved.

Mr. Musharraf recently returned to Pakistan after nearly four years of self-imposed exile. On Tuesday, a court in the northwestern city of Peshawar banned him from seeking public office, despite his stated plans to run for a parliamentary seat in May 11 elections.

Since his return, the former president's fortunes have gone from bad to worse. A court on April 20 placed Mr. Musharraf under house arrest in connection with charges that he ordered the illegal detention of judges in 2007. Days later, a judge rejected bail for Mr. Musharraf.

Mr. Musharraf seized power in a 1999 military coup and ruled for nearly a decade before he stepped down in 2008 and later fled into exile.